Obamacare: Don't Worry, We'll Tell You What to Say....

I've heard of opinion polls, I've heard of push polls, I've heard of negative polls, I've heard of phone calls to encourage you to call your congressman on this subject or another, I've heard alot of different political phone calls, but my wife had a new kind of call.

In this one, a young man indicates that he will connect you immediately by phone to a congressman's office, in this case Congressman Jim Matheson (D) of Utah. That's pretty proactive; I call you and then connect you to the person my group is trying to influence.

Of course they don't just want you to give your opinion on this subject or another, they want you to "recite" their message. In this case the young man (even after my wife indicated she would give her OWN opinion) rehearsed no less than three times, specific points she "needed" to include in her message to Congressman Matheson. "You need to say this and then you need to say this and be sure to end by saying this...". Pretty nice of him to make sure my wife had the opportunity to memorize their script.

In fact there were three specific points on why the congressman should support the health care legislation pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, and according to the young man, the congressman needed to hear all three reasons. He repeated what and how she should say it when they would finally be connected to the congressman's office. He was even kind of enough to "stay on the line to make sure you are properly connected...". How sweet.

My wife was connected to the congressman's office, got the voice mail and left her message... oh, did I say she left "her" message? That's right. She has a brain, she has an opinion and she didn't need (or even agree with)the script she was being spoon fed. But thanks for making the call, at least the congressman has someone's independent opinion that may not have reached the congressman's voice mail without the help of that nice young man.